Follow My Carving - Step 2

To celebrate Heartwood Art carvings being featured in the winter issues of Woodcarving Illustrated and Scroll Saw magazines, a new series is being added to the blog and site titled "Follow My Carving". The prototype of this piece will be shown in one of the magazines. Now you can follow along as it is finished, step-by-step.

The first detail carving I add is to the outer circle that provides the illusion of an ornate frame or border and enhances the shape of the tree. This area is carved first because it requires turning the piece in different directions to work with the grain of the wood. Sometimes this requires the cut to be made toward the tree. Any nicks to the tree can easily be dealt with once the bark carving begins.

This photo also allows you to see more of the underlying structural carving on the limbs, which gives them shape. Very little wood is removed from the smaller branches because doing so would make them weak. Near the edges, the majority of the wood will be removed during the bark carving phase.

You might also notice there are only a few crossing limbs. They are very difficult to cut and even more difficult to carve. Where they are placed has as much to do with structural integrity and ability to cut as with aesthetics. It’s a keen balance between function and fashion.

The next installment is coming soon.

To see more carvings, please visit the Heartwood Art site.

Follow My Carving - Step 1

To celebrate Heartwood Art carvings being featured in the winter issues of Woodcarving Illustrated and Scroll Saw magazines, a new series is being added to the blog and site titled "Follow My Carving". The prototype of this piece will be shown in one of the magazines. Now you can follow along as it is finished, step-by-step. Below is the first installment.



This blank started as a 1/4 inch piece of birch measuring 11 x 11 inches. It was hand-selected for this project by my favorite old-world craftsman, Del Craft, who owns Del’s Woodcraft, located in Colorado. He supplies all the thin wood for Heartwood Art carvings.

It took over a month to draw the pattern. It must be as architecturally sound as it is aesthetically pleasing. As you know, wood comes from a round source. As long as it is in a solid plank, it remains fairly straight. But, when big sections are removed it tends to bow. The design must hold the structure of the wood or it could explode. This is also why the blank must be hand-selected. Del can read the grain and picks a piece that will aid the design.

After the pattern is cut on a scroll saw, the limbs must be shaped on both the front and back. Shaping on the backside simply involves removing the squared edges so that, when viewed from the front, the limb seems to be truly round. Shaping on the front and sides is much more involved. It gives the tree its underlying form. If done well, it also infers the effect of motion and deeper dimensionality by casting slight shadows.

At this stage, the piece has its basic form and is ready for detail carving.

The next installment is coming soon.

To see more carvings, please visit the Heartwood Art site.

Woodcarving Illustrated to feature Heartwood Art

Carvings from Heartwood Art will be feautred in two national woodcarving magazines from Fox Chapel Publishing, the industry leader in woodworking books. Because the tree and stained glass carvings combine multiple disciplines, the editor chose to feature them in the 2008 winter editions of both Woodcarving Illustrated and Scrollsaw Woodworking and Crafts.

For more information and to see the latest carvings, visit Heartwood Art.com

New 2008 series of carvings on the way

MaAnna is creating another round tree series for 2008.The first carving will be a mighty oak with exposed roots.There is an ornate circle around the treewhich is highlighted by a square framewith additional carvings.

The series will eventually include beautiful chip carvingaround the outer frame as well as well as wall mount treeswithout the stained glass backing. The first carving should be finished early this summer.

To be notified when new art becomes available, click here